"I wanted to commit right there but then people tell you, ‘You have to weigh your options,’" Hicks said. "I just said forget it, I wanted to go to Carolina anyway."

The 6-foot-8 forward had to work hard to reach this position and has to work even harder to play at Carolina.

"We've got to chase him out of the gym at night," said J.F. Webb coach Leo Brunelli. "I got two kids at home that I want to say goodnight to. It's a great problem to have. He's a gym rat."

"I've just got to work on the offensive side now," Hicks said while shooting all alone in the gym. "Usually I play defense, block shots and all that. But now I’ve got a little jumper going down. We're extending it to the 3-point line this year."

Hicks stays in touch with his future Tar Heel coaches who issued him the challenges of working hard on everything, trying to win a state championship and getting used to winning.

"My goal every year is to win the state championship," Brunelli added. "That's not going to change."

Another goal for the Warriors this season is to win the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational. This year will mark the first time in school history J.F. Webb has played in the event, and for the small town of Oxford, there would be nothing better than to win the tournament.

Jeff Gravley contributed to this story.

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